Malden High teachers receive AP course prep

Several teachers from Malden High School recently attended a special kind of summer school: intensive training to prepare them to teach Advanced Placement courses.

The teacher training session was part of Mass Insight Education’s (MIE) AP STEM and English initiative, a program to expand college-level coursework opportunities for high school students.

More than 500 school teachers from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Louisiana attended the Advanced Placement Summer Institute during the weeks of July 24 and July 31 at Bridgewater State University, where they focused on pre-AP and AP coursework in their fields. Advanced Placement courses offer college classes to high school students to prepare them for college success while also providing the opportunity to earn college credits before graduating high school.

After attending the APSI, Malden High English teacher Shannon Alexis is “more excited than ever” to teach Advanced Placement courses.

“I'm at the point now where my own children are getting a little older, and I feel ready to take on the challenge of teaching at a higher level, while also helping our diverse student population succeed at that level, which is why I went to the AP training,” Alexis said.

Alexis said that AP training instructor John Williamson helped “demystify” the process of teaching such rigorous and comprehensive courses.

“The training really helped to bring the task of teaching AP Language and Composition down to a manageable size, giving me concrete ways of going about the planning, executing, and grading of the content,” Alexis said.

Alexis is most excited to be able to utilize the AP curriculum to incorporate literature that reflects the diverse cultural backgrounds of the Malden High School student population.

“AP training shows teachers that there is a great variety of texts out there nowadays that allow for meaningful updates to the curriculum,” she said. “I'm excited to curate my own collection to fit my teaching objectives and hopefully engage my audience.”

The teacher training is supported by MIE as part of its mission to increase the number of rigorous, college-level high school AP courses and help close the achievement gap. Annually, MIE’s AP STEM and English program reaches more than 10,000 students at over 70 partner schools across the Commonwealth.

The Summer Institute is endorsed by the College Board and co-sponsored by Eastern Bank.

“We are proud to offer this unique training program to teachers with our partners at Bridgewater State University, the College Board, and Eastern Bank,” said Dr. Susan Lusi, MIE’s president and CEO. “The dedication of teachers attending APSI is inspirational and is reflected in their classroom results.”

The MIE program has a long track record of working with partner high schools in expanding college opportunity for high school students. Of the 23,000 students who participated in MIE’s AP STEM program and graduated from high school since the 2008-2009 school year, 78 percent have gone on to attend college – 90 percent of those students have persisted through two years of college, and 81 percent have either graduated from college or are on track to graduate. The numbers are similar for students of color – 88 percent have persisted through two years of college, and 78 percent have either graduated from college or are on track to graduate. The program is funded through a combination of state, district and philanthropic support.